The Call of Pandemic and our National Resolve

The Global community is on tenterhooks since a micro demon, Covid-19 has been detected. It has become a shadow of death; a contagious microorganism that furtively strikes everyone. It can be fatal if not detected or treated timely. This mysterious disease took a large toll of death in Wuhan, China.

After haunting the People's Republic of China, it got attention towards other foreign countries and created a huge mess, it not only challenged disaster management capabilities of the developed world but it left serious questions about insufficient health care facilities. This deadly virus not only claims lives, but it is also a serious threat to the world economy and global integration. After the intrusion of this novel threat, within a very short span of time, the global community was compelled to cease its activities to the undefined impasse.

Still, global leadership is trying to counter these pandemic crises through their joint endeavors but the situation is getting worse. Particularly, South Asian developing countries like Afghanistan, Iran, India, and Pakistan succumb to an adverse situation. Poor health care facilities, mismanagement of resources, administrative lapse, and lack of public consciousness are salient causes that are common in these neighboring countries and thus they are prone to a great catastrophe.

In a similar context, if we inquire to fathom into catastrophic disasters inflicted by COVID-19 in Italy and Iran we find a common factor; a public distraction from reality, not believing in unimaginable consequences of this novel disease. Unfortunately, India and Pakistan have the same conventional mindset hence the death toll claimed by COVID-19 is rising rapidly. Now in this extreme pandemic situation where various prominent leaders of the world failed to curtail these crises, how could we find a solution?

In fact, it depends upon the social behavior of a nation, collective, and integrated approach to deal with crises. Great nations are forged by adversities. First, they develop a caliber to face a catastrophe then they bloom among the global community. This is how a situation can either define a glorious destination or an ignominious destiny. The famous preacher and theologian Charles R. Swindoll said “Life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it “.  In a similar vein, a great poet and scholar Allama Muhammad Iqbal says in his collection of poetry

“Do not fear the tides of the wind coming from opposite directions, it is meant to take you to the heights of the sky “

 Likewise, how Japan resurrected herself from the ashes of nukes. As it was pounded with two nuclear strikes but their national resolve helped them reinstate their global image and today they are a world-leading economy. Western countries like England, France, and Germany who witnessed gory bloodshed of WWI & II for a comprehensive period of time. They remained shattered and disrupted for a long time, stuck in an economic and social deadlock but never budge from their national resolve and commitment.

Therefore, how China curtailed this outbreak is absolutely one of the most effective models for the rest of the struggling world. Public response to this pandemic in China was highly disciplined, dedicated, and proactive. They maintained a painful lockdown with absolute social distancing. They voluntarily provided themselves with tests and medical examinations.

Besides their mutual cooperation, their collective national impulse to bring Wuhan back into normal life and clean their country out of this virus was a prime factor that helped them against this outbreak and therefore within two-month cases started reducing.  The Chinese nation resorted to a collective endeavor of ‘National Resolve’ therefore they are the first nation that successfully countered these pandemic crises and remained triumphant against COVID-19.

Hence, Being Pakistani, we need to understand this call of a pandemic. which is cyphered with a message to remind us of glorious rules, foretold by Muhammad Ali Jinnah since the inception of Pakistan that

“With faith, discipline and selfless devotion there is nothing worthwhile you can’t achieve “. If our national motto is ‘Faith, Discipline, and Unity’, then we still have time.

We ought to brace up ourselves with a 'National Resolve' to defeat this novel outbreak. It requires collective endeavors, mutual collaboration, and a dedicated motive. This is a national emergency and it is time to stand by our Government and accept hard choices for the safety and better future of Pakistan. 

Younas Kamal has done a master's degree in Software Engineering and has a keen interest in Peace & Conflict Studies.